Nokia N9

Great-looking hardware and what appears to be a true, modern mobile touchscreen OS. Watch the “Swipe” video, it’s only two minutes long and it’s worth it. They’ve made a phone with zero buttons on the front face.

No ship date or pricing announced, although the NYT reports it “will sell unsubsidized for the equivalent of about $670 to $760 for 16 and 64 gigabyte models”. So here’s where Nokia stands. Four and a half years after Apple announced the iPhone, Nokia has now announced a worthy rival. And it’s based on the MeeGo OS that apparently is a dead-end, as the company prepares to focus on Windows Phone 7.

★ Tuesday, 21 June 2011